Our View: Register to vote; fight partisan political maps

The primary election is about a month away, and if you want to have a say in the political process you must register to vote by Tuesday.

There are important local and state races on the March 18 ballot, including Illinois governor and Boone and Winnebago counties' sheriffs.

You can't vote if you don't register, and there's not a lot of time left to register. Take two forms of identification - one must have a current address - to the Winnebago County Clerk's Office, 404 Elm St., Suite 104, in Rockford; Rockford Board of Elections Office, 301 S. Sixth St., in Rockford; or Boone County Clerk's Office, 1212 Logan Ave. Suite 103, in Belvidere.

You can visit these agencies' websites for more information and to print and mail registration forms.

Voting is a right too few people take advantage of. Register by Tuesday and vote in the March 18 primary. Make your voice heard.

Edgar on board: Former Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar told an interviewer in 2012 that "in Illinois there's nothing more political than redistricting." Very true and perhaps a bit of an understatement. If you looked at your state representative's or your state senator's district, you'd see that the map defies common sense. The goal in the map-making process is to protect incumbents, especially incumbents of the party in power.

In Illinois that happens to be the Democrats, who drew political maps to ensure Democrats got elected or re-elected. The politicians pick the voters by making sure district boundaries have as many voters likely to see things their way as possible. Republicans do the same thing in states they govern.

Edgar and people who are interested in good government support Yes for Independent Maps, the citizen initiative that is trying to gather the necessary signatures to get an amendment on the November ballot to change the redistricting process in Illinois.

The current redistricting process gives us only the illusion of democracy. The system protects those in power and they are pretty happy with the way things are going.

Our guess is that you're not real happy with a state that has the third-highest unemployment rate in the nation, the worst pension liability and a history of corruption.

If you want to learn more, or would like to donate or to help circulate petitions, go to the group's website: independentmaps.org.

Dump Doonesbury? Gary Trudeau is on hiatus - again. You won't see new Doonesbury comic strips until the fall at the earliest. That's a long time for us to be publishing Doonesbury "Flashbacks."

Doonesbury is not a priority for Trudeau. He's more interested "Alpha House," an original Web series that he's helped create for Amazon. He took a long break from Mike, Zonker and the gang last year when he started "Alpha House."

Doonesbury fans have objected whenever we've mentioned dumping the strip, but those fans have not had to live through as many reruns as there have been the last couple of years. The syndicate that provides Doonesbury tells us that it will provide "Classic Doonesbury" beginning March 3. Is "Classic Doonesbury" good enough for you or is it time to dump Doonesbury?

We'd like your input before we make a decision. Send your thoughts to opinions@rrstar.com.